Wednesday, June 29, 2016

New mission president!

"They're Here!" - Sister Maxwell facebook, 6/29/16

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Week #13 - Missionary Life :)‏

Dear family, I am attaching pictures of your missionary taken in front of the mission home.  Enjoy.  We love your missionary.

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Gday Mates! :D

How is everything going for yous all? I hope great! 
I don't even know where to start for this week because it has gone by so fast! I guess to start off...I CAUGHT MY FIRST COCKROACH!! That was scary!! It was MASSIVE!! It took a lot of courage because boy those things are fast!
Anyway on a more missionary note :) President and Sister Maxwell leave this week :( It was so hard to say goodbye to them last night at their last fireside and many tears were shed but President Vidmar arrives on the 30th and I get to meet him on the 1st :) I am so excited but yet sad! It will be a lot of transition this week and a lot of adjusting but it will all be great :)
This week has been so INCREDIBLY COLD!!! I never believed people when they told me that Melbourne was cold but man...this cold just gets under every layer of clothing you have and just stays there! It is interesting! But it makes me wear heaps more layers! Definitely a learning experience! Everyone always asks me isn't Idaho cold?? Yeah...but it is a different cold!
Sister Bennett caught a cold this week and so we have done heaps of staying warm inside and out of the cold! We also have had a gang going through our area and we have had to be very careful where we go because we travel by bus and don't have a safe car to just get into but the members are awesome and will take us anywhere we need to go :)
I finished the Book of Mormon also this week! I started reading it in NY and am so grateful for the Book of Mormon. It truly is the word of god and testifies purely of Jesus Christ. My testimony has definitely strengthened because of the book and I am so grateful to be able to share it with everyone I meet :)
I hope yous all have a great week and are enjoying your warm weather ;)
Love yous all!!
Sister Rose
This is my lovely cockroach that I caught in my handy cup...
Man Elders can definitely make a mess! All of this rubbish came from the elders before us in the flat...(no offense elders ;)


Since Sister Bennett was sick she was not very happy that I made her stay warm inside all day long
The Idaho Represents of the Australia Melbourne Mission :)
The best mission mom ever!! :) We love her so very much and will miss her!!
Have a great week :D

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Week #12 - Missionary Life :)‏

Gday Everyone :)
What an incredible week it has been! 
We have been blessed with 6 investigators from the 3 weeks that I have been here! We had found 3 that the Elders before us were teaching and then a Part Member family who we are hoping to start getting more interested in the Gospel :)
An Interesting thing happened this week!
We were tracting and my companion said the next house we stop to will open the door and talk to us. So we went to the next house and knocked. An older man opened the door, looked at our nametags and said I can't talk to you...you don't believe in Blood transfusions. I had to try and not laugh...I said oh no you have us confused with the Jehovahs Witnesses, we are the missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We continued talking and he was telling us stories about his life and they were very interesting....but at the end of our conversation he looked at us well it has been nice talking to you but I am NOT interested. Go Back to your own countries and civilize them....We don't need you here and no one wants you here so Leave.
HAHAHAHA I was dying!!! We left his house and busted up laughing. People here are so nice when talking but they let you know that they don't want anything hahaha Oh how I love tracting!! It is the best!! :)
This week we had zone conference and it was amazing! President and Sister Maxwell are preparing to leave and so we had to say a lot of good byes this week..all is well though because I will see them on Wednesday :)
I slammed my first Tim-Tam this week :)
At zone conference they asked us all to take selfies and look at the picture. We were to see that we are all children of God and that we all represent him with our nametags :)

I hope yous all have a BONZA AS week!! Just a quick note :)
In 3 Nephi 22:7 I learned a great lesson this week with trusting the lord :) I recommend you to all read it!
I love you all!!
Arohanui
Sister Rose

x

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Week #11 - Missionary Life :)‏

This leave was bigger than my face!! It was just so cool that I had to get a picture
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Gday Everyone! :) You all should be proud of me....I have killed 2 spiders in the past four days!! Only a little squealing was involved :) But I did it!
I hope you all are having a fantastic week! Yesterday was a national holiday and we were unable to write yesterday but its all good because I can now!
This week has been so amazing! I can't believe that it has gone by so quickly but Australia is ABSOLUTELY the best!!! Everything here is so great and I am adjusting really great :)
So this week I got the opportunity to get sick...once again while being on a mission! It was definitely a great experience..but all is well and I am healthy once again!
We have been going through our area book and getting to know the members very well in this area because Sister Bennett and I were whitewashed into this area (we know nothing). The first 3 days we spent completely in our flat figuring out who the Elders were teaching before we got there...the Elders did not keep good records. I have learned that if you do not keep good records the missionaries after you really don't like you! Haha the Elders that were in our flat before us are scared of Sister Bennett because she has had to clean up their mess! 
The members in the ward are honestly the best people that I have met! We didn't go one day without a meal this week and we had more people calling us asking if we had dinner appointments, I had a member offer to teach me Spanish so I am learning that :), they are more than willing to take us anywhere that we need or pick us up at any time, and they make sure that we are always doing good! The ward is a great place :)
I absolutely love it here in Australia! :D
One thing that I have learned in the last week is the Christlike attribute of Patience. Satan has really been trying with me the past few days especially with getting sick. I felt like I just couldn't keep going any longer and Satan was truly being annoying. I prayed so hard and kept feeling one way that I just didn't want to be feeling. I read in Preach My Gospel about the Christlike attributes and found that I was lacking in quite a few of them...well that is going to change very quickly :) I had been relying too much on myself rather than in the Lord and giving my everything to him. I definitely learned a very valuable lesson this week with many many more!! 
I love yous all heaps and can't wait to hear from yous! :)
Have a great week!!
Ofa Atu,
Sister Rose


These are the beautiful birds that are always outside our flat :)

The weather here is so off and on...It poured for an entire day and we were stuck inside for most of it :/ It rains so very hard!!
Here is one of the spiders I courageously killed :) It got to drown in dish soap (You're welcome Dad for the picture ;)

These are my Sister Training Leaders :) They are so hilarious and are just the best!!

Sunday, June 5, 2016

Week #10 - Australia!! :D‏

Gday Everyone!
I made it safely to Australia and absolutely love it here!! The people are so friendly and are so welcoming! Not everyone accepts the gospel but they take the time to talk to us and that is bonza :)
Australia is such a beautiful place and it is so exotic!! I love it :) There are parrots that fly around all the time and they are always just singing away! 
The work here is so bonza! The ward that I am in hasn't had a baptism in yongs...over 12 months!? Sister Bennett and I are going to change that :) The ward is so bonza and are so ready to help us whenever we need! When we arrived in our flat there was literally nothing...no lists of investigators the Elders had taught and NO FOOD!! I was shocked at how disgusting the Elders had left our flat. It is getting better though :) We cleaned most of it this morning and that was gross..
(For all those who I have not responded too just know that I am reading yous emails but I run out of time :P )
I got to see a sister from my stake back at home!! It was so lovely :) We have never met each other before but we were able to stay in contact before she entered the mtc! It was great :)
I love yous all!! Have a GREAT week!!
Love Sister Rose

I got to go to the Palmyra temple and see the sacred grove before I left last week :) It was such a testimony builder!! I am so grateful for this gospel and the joy it brings us :)



This is my Companion Sister Bennett :) Sorry for the blurry picture!!
This is Sister Murphey!! She is so amazing! I am so glad that I got to finally meet her!!